Pitch Black shines light on competitive talent at ICCA

The ladies of Pitch Black, OWU’s female a cappella group, competed against 10 other groups at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) on Feb. 25.
The competition was held at Kettering High School in Kettering, OH.
The group sang “I Want You To Want Me” by Letters to Cleo, “I’ll Fly Away” by Alison Kraus and Gillian Welch, and a piece combining “Not Over You” by Gavin DeGraw and “Someone Like You” by Adele.
Senior Emily Knobbe said she felt the group sang well for their first time competing and incorporating choreography into the performance.
“We learned a lot about the quality of a cappella outside of OWU. Choreography was a big part of the judging, and this was our very first experience with choreography, so it was a lot to take on,” said Knobbe.
Junior Clare Edwards, president of Pitch Black, said she was glad the group was able to travel to a competition such as the ICCA, since the last time the group performed off campus was at Denison in the fall.
“The competition was really fun because we got to meet other groups and sing our sets for each other,” she said.
Edwards said the two groups who went on to the next round were “Buck That,” the men’s group from The Ohio State University, and “The Rip Chords,” an all women’s group from The University of Illinois.
Senior Julia Alkon said the experience was more about group bonding than winning, and the group sang well regardless.
“Although I really enjoyed getting to perform together in front of judges and a big audience, the best part was having the opportunity to be part of something like this and getting to hear all of the other groups,” she said.
Knobbe said she has high hopes for the ladies of Pitch Black as competitors in years to come.
“The winning groups were from very large schools, so we feel proud to have pulled off what we did, coming from such a small school. In future years, the group will have more practice with incorporating choreography into our set. We also were able to see the extremely high energy levels of many of the groups, and we will work even harder to meet that level,” she said.